The Path to Victory

A/N: This chapter contains a rather graphic birth scene, so if that's not your thing, proceed with caution.


Chapter 6

During the following two days, Hades did not leave his chambers, or even his bed, except when nature called and then only for short periods of time, always assisted by at least one of his siblings. Considering the way his body reacted to standing upright, he did not feel enthused to move, either.

The evening seven days after the conception of his unborn child, Hades felt it move inside him in a way that could only indicate that the creature was looking for an exit. Pain spread through his system like wildfire and Hades let out an agonized moan, which frightened his sister Demeter, who was currently the one watching over him.

The goddess was leaning over in no time at all, pressing her hands against his distended belly and trying to work the same magic that had saved him after the horrendous beast attack three days earlier. Now, however, Demeter soon experienced that her soothing touch was not working.

“Ohhh, it’s moving so much…!” Hades groaned, hands over the swelled curve as the outlines of limbs fought against his skin. “It’s coming!”

Demeter clearly could not leave her brother’s side, but she had to share the news with the rest of their kin: the Olympian weapon was ready to be born. She leapt to her feet and ran to the door, ignoring her brother’s frantic demand to know where she was going.

“Everyone, come quickly!” she cried out, desperate not to panic. “The child is coming! Hurry!”

Hestia happened to be nearest and ran to her sister, eyes wide in anticipation. “It will be born tonight?” she asked, making sure she heard correctly.

“Tell the others!” Demeter answered as she ran back to Hades’ side. Already the god’s face was quite red and perspiring as he rode out the pains. Moments later, Zeus, who had heard Demeter’s cry, burst into the room, and for once he actually looked worried.

“How long has he been this way?” he asked, grabbing a nearby chalice and filling it with water.

“Only a few minutes,” his sister replied, pulling the covers from Hades’ bed and beginning to remove his robe. “My touch does not calm the creature. It is ready to come into the world.”

The jolts of pain caused by the creature’s movements made Hades grip the sheets hard enough to tear them, and he feared that unless occupied with something, he would start tearing at his own flesh to get free of his burden and thus the pain.

“Demeter, do s-something, please…” he whimpered, reaching out for his sister with a bony, claw-like hand. He could not take this kind of agony for much longer without going mad.

Instead of answering her brother or offering comfort, Demeter just frowned, looking confused and helpless. The events unfolding were beyond her knowledge or control, and all she could do was wait, like the rest of them. Would Hades last through the time it would take for the creature to be born?

Zeus himself sat down on his brother’s other side and managed to ease his hand in beneath Hades’ convulsing torso. The pregnant Olympian wailed loudly when he was lifted upright, his right hand grasping blindly for something and finding Zeus’ clothing.

“Here, brother. Drink,” the leader encouraged, and following his words, Hades could feel a stream of water entering his mouth from the chalice Zeus had placed at his lips. While the water soothed his dry throat like velvet, it did nothing to rid him of the pain, or even lessen it. Hades felt something warm, wet and slippery pour out from between his legs, and judging from the sound of Demeter’s cry, he could only assume that it was bad.

Some of the gore escaping from him was a strange translucent yellow fluid, but most of it was blood. It seeped into the sheets and mattress where Hades lay, forming a dark crimson stain beneath him, just as the other gods entered the room. Hestia gasped at the sight and was compelled to look away, while Hera took her shocked sister in her arms, partly to provide consolation, partly to seek it. Poseidon could only stare in stunned silence.

“No…” Hades cried out, though whether he was speaking to his kin or to the absolute agony of the birth was anyone’s guess. He tossed his head backwards and gave a sharp, keening moan.

“Concentrate, brother,” Zeus was inspired to say, wetting a cloth and dabbing it over the suffering god’s brow. “Focus and it will come easier.”

If he could, Hades would have struck his younger brother right in the face for his idiocy. How could one focus when the pain was so great?? But even the insult he had on his tongue had to wait, as another heave from his child made him tense up and groan out his pain.

*

An hour passed, and there was no visible progress in Hades’ condition. The being inside him was still moving almost frantically, and blood steadily seeped out of his rear entrance, but the creature did not seem any closer to being born now than it had when the pain first began.

The other five Olympians did not know what to do. It was obvious to everybody that their weakened brother was in immense agony and was unlikely to last the night unless something was done… but what?

Zeus briefly considered asking Demeter to make Hades a herbal brew that would at least alleviate his suffering, but he refrained from it, afraid that it would do more harm than good. Poisoning their weapon before it was even born into the world was not something he wanted to risk.

Another hour passed, and Hades was no longer twisting or turning. He simply did not have enough strength left. His livid face, as stiff as a mask, was twisted into a grimace of pure misery.

“Brother… He is fading on us…” Poseidon quietly told Zeus while he sat by Hades’ side, holding his brother’s small, withered hand in his own.

Indeed, if they were not looking for a heartbeat or the rising and falling of his chest, Hades would have looked already dead. A week of carrying a creature constantly sapping his strength and energy had made the god so skeletal and pale, and now the loss of blood gave his complexion like that of a corpse, dull and gray. Hades seemed to fall unconscious for a few seconds until his child moved again and he awoke with a cry.

“Just… get it ouuuttt of me…” he wailed, pleading eyes directed at Poseidon, who was already at a loss for both words and ideas. Thus, he simply took his suffering brother in his arms and held him close, as though being there for him would somehow alleviate his pain. So caught up in trying to think up a way to help was he that he did not realize was the noise was at his side until Hades was lifting a dagger in his shaking hand. The older god had discovered the blade in Poseidon’s robes and was now aiming it for his massive belly.

“I’ll cut it out!” he shouted as his brother’s grabbed his arm and easily wrenched the dagger free. “Anything to stop the pain!”

“Hades, are you mad?!” Zeus roared as soon as he caught up on what his brother was attempting. Shoving Poseidon out of the way, Zeus leaned over Hades himself, grabbing him by the arms and almost lifting him off the bed.

“What were you thinking, attempting such folly?” the leader shouted furiously, shaking Hades’ frail form almost brutally. “You would have killed not only yourself but our only hope of winning the war!”

“I don’t care!” the other shouted back, slamming his fists against Zeus’ chest with surprising strength. “Just get it out of me! GET IT OUT OF ME!”

“Don’t you think I would if I knew how?!”

“You don’t care, you never did!” Hades shouted back, too much in agony to consider what he was saying to his leader. “All you’ve cared about is yourself!”

Zeus shook his brother again, and his voice was like the growl of some massive beast. The rest of the gods were shocked into silence and unable to act against their leader.

“You should consider yourself lucky,” Zeus snarled. “Were it not for your present condition I would strike you down within an inch of your life.”

“Do it!” Hades wailed. “Anything is better than this…”

“Zeus, stop!” Poseidon finally exclaimed, hand in a painful grip on his younger brother’s arm. “He is not himself and fighting with him will not help the matter! Please, put him down!”

Zeus, reason clouded by rage, came to his senses and he stared dumbly at the sight of Hades, sagging against him and quietly sobbing. Slowly, he loosened his hold on the wretched god as his family gathered and took Hades in their own arms.

“Ohhhh…” Hades weakly moaned as he was held upright. “Ohhhh it’s moving… it’s trying to get out.”

Demeter frowned at what she was seeing. Hades had, despite repeated attempts to push the child out, not enough strength to continue. Something had to be done quickly, or their brother was doomed; he was getting weaker and making no progress whatsoever. Demeter, however, had an idea.

“Hades, dearest, listen to me,” she said, stroking her brother’s clammy forehead. “I will try to help you. Do you understand me?”

Hades nodded mutely before another trembling cry of pain came over his lips.

“You will have to sit up and lean forward. It will help guide the child downward. Can you do this, brother?”

“I can try…” Hades whispered feebly. At this point he was willing to try anything, and Demeter was the only one who had suggested something sensible all along.

Poseidon lifted the weakened god into a squatting position on the floor, and then helped keep him upright while Demeter settled behind him to keep a close eye on any progress he was making.

Hades groaned when another horrendous cramp seized his body. “I can’t… I can’t…” he panted.

“Come on, Hades. Push harder,” the goddess encouraged.

“He is too weak,” Zeus commented. “He doesn’t have enough strength left to push.”

Demeter could not resist throwing an angry glare at her youngest brother for being so discouraging. Such an attitude was the last thing Hades needed right now. “Hades, you have to do this, or your child will die,” she said, omitting to mention the fact that Hades would die as well. Perhaps he would, no matter what happened.

Hades tried to slow his breathing, though with the pain and exhaustion it proved difficult. If he failed, then the gods had failed, and the Titans would triumph. In his pain-addled brain he hardly cared now if he died, but he needed to have this child, or else all would be lost. He took a deep breath and as the pains increased, he was told to bear down, so he did. A raw scream came out from his throat and his head slumped forward when he could push no more.

“Hestia, look for any signs of progress,” Demeter directed her sister over the horrible sounds of their brother struggling to give birth. “See if the child is any closer to coming out.”

Hestia hurried forward and was given enough room to inspect between Hades’ legs as Poseidon attentively lifted their poor brother a distance off the floor. Seeing past the blood was difficult, but the goddess soon found what she was looking for.

“I see something,” she said after an all too long pause. “The child is crowning.”

To Hades it felt like he was turning inside out, but from some hidden reserve deep within, he received strength for one more try. When the pain increased, he took a deep breath, grabbing Poseidon’s hand for support. Pressing down with enormous strain, he felt skin and muscle rupture, but continued nonetheless. In a stream of crimson blood, he felt something bulbous exiting his narrow passage and hardly dared to believe that the creature’s head was out.

“Hades, I can see the head,” Hestia called out, reaching in beneath her brother to tug at the creature and thus speed up the process. “The hardest part is over. Just a little more, my brother.”

Hades hardly had any strength left, but he tried anyway, and this time, in one fluid motion, something large slipped out of him. //I did it// was his final thought before he collapsed into Poseidon’s arms, unconscious.

The “child” itself hardly resembled a god. It screeched in response to the cold world it had been born into, writhing on the floor in a puddle of blood and sending red droplets everywhere as it squirmed. Countless limbs flailing, it reached upward as though displeased with its predicament and ready to escape back into the vessel where it came from. No one wanted to touch it.

Zeus finally spoke, stepping forward to take a closer look. “This is our weapon,” he announced, regarding the flailing limbs, curling tentacles, and spiny jaws which opened and closed sporadically. “This is our victory.”

The gods were so caught up in the very sight of the newborn creature that their attention was taken off of Hades. Only Poseidon, who held his limp body, took notice of him.

“Hades??” he cried out, shaking his brother and slapping at the unconscious man’s face, desperate to wake him. He pressed his hand against the elder god’s chest, ignoring the fact that every rib was visible, and tried to feel for a heartbeat. He found one, but it was very weak.

Now that the creature was no longer within him, Hades’ body was frighteningly light, almost insubstantial. No longer a vessel, perhaps it had no more reason to sustain life. Poseidon was not simply going to give up on his brother, however. Hades had not suffered through all this to perish before he could even see the fruit of his efforts.

“Zeus, we need some help here!” Poseidon exclaimed, well aware of how hysterical he sounded but presently not caring. “I believe Hades is dying!”

Zeus, attention still fixed on the shrieking, wriggling creature his brother had given birth to, turned his head to look at Poseidon over his shoulder. The other was holding a lifeless Hades to his chest, cradling him like a small child. Blood still poured down Hades’ inner thighs and hit the floor with a wet, dripping sound.

“What would you have me do?” Zeus asked. “We already knew that the vessel was likely to perish in order for the rest of us to live.”

Poseidon glared at the youngest of the gods. “You’re no better than our father.”

Everyone went silent, save for the creature, still writhing and still screeching. Poseidon began to regret the words ever leaving his mouth, but it was too late now. It was clear that Zeus was now furious. He walked straight for his brothers, fists clenched and posture reading of an intent to cause serious, if not deadly harm. Poseidon held Hades closer, a poor attempt to protect him, but an attempt nonetheless.

Hera had been poking at the creature before the insult was heard, turning it on its side. As the three goddesses watched on in fear at what might happen between their brothers, the newborn thing managed to finally right itself, and once on its feet, it moved at surprising speed.

“Stop it, quickly!” Zeus heard behind him, and the two gods turned to see the creature skittering away, headed for the baths. It seemed to be making the bathing pool its prime target.

A plash could be heard when Hades’ child leapt into the water and submerged itself, behaving as though water was destined to become its natural habitat. Zeus and his three sisters ran after it, shouting and muttering curses to one another. Retrieving the creature from the baths turned out to be more difficult than one could have thought, considering the little one was already such a fast and capable swimmer. With six limbs each containing webbed digits, it was faster than any of the Olympians trying to catch it.

Zeus and the goddesses had completely forgotten about Hades when they entered the water themselves, attempting to corner the creature and recapture it. Poseidon alone, who ironically would have been best suited for the task of catching Hades’ wayward child, remained with his dying brother. With no apparent rise or fall of his chest, it seemed like the oldest son of Cronos had stopped breathing, and holding his hand against the lifeless god’s nose and mouth confirmed Poseidon’s fears.

“Don’t leave us, brother…” he whispered, lips against Hades’ partially hairless crown. “I… I’m not willing to let you go yet.”

On a whim he pressed his mouth against Hades’ dry, cracked lips. Focusing intensely, he tried to will life back into his brother, even at the expense of his own strength.

Something came up from his lungs, through his throat, and into the other. It glowed as a calm orange color, and as part of it escaped through the space between the two gods’ lips, it dissipated like mist. Poseidon continued to concentrate, though already he could feel himself growing weak. It did not matter if his strength waned; it would only be temporary. As long as his brother was well again, he did not care.

Hades finally showed signs of life again when he moved. Poseidon could feel the older god’s chest beneath him rise with the taking of breath, and one of Hades’ bony hands twitched and closed its fingers. Poseidon took the risk of pulling away, not realizing how much of his own strength had been drained of him until lips had parted. He could only watch, struggling to stand, as Hades shuddered and gasped for air.

Reaching his brother’s side again, Poseidon took Hades’ face in his hands, cupping it gently. “Brother…” he called to him, bringing staring eyes to focus on his visage.

Hades recognized him almost instantly. “Did we succeed…?” the elder god asked, voice barely above a whisper.

A tear escaped the younger Olympian’s eye, despite the fact that he was now smiling. “We did…” he told Hades. “You did it, brother. Our offspring lives.”

The ghost of a smile graced Hades’ face as well, even though he felt weary to the point of death and intense pains were wracking his battered frame. If he had had the strength, he would have reached up to embrace his brother, but all he could manage now was leaning into his touch.

“W-where is my child… Can I see him?” he asked, sweeping his blurry gaze over the room. The other Olympians or his child were nowhere in sight.

Poseidon gave a small chuckle in response. “You will, dear brother, as soon as our siblings have caught him.” Soon after his statement, the god realized that the pronoun “him” might not be the correct one to use, since he did not know for sure if Hades’ child was male or female.

“Caught?” Sheer puzzlement read in Hades’ tired eyes. “What happened?”

“The creature has run off. If I am hearing correctly, it’s in the bath, enjoying itself. Our brother and sisters are trying to retrieve it.”

Indeed another loud splash came from the adjacent room, followed by a bellowing curse.

Hades could barely laugh, but the mental image of some newborn beast wreaking havoc as Zeus fussed over it amused him greatly. When he did manage to laugh, the pain in his body increased for only a moment, but it was enough to make him stop. His brother gathered him in his arms and, which a great amount of care, lifted him, carrying his fragile form to a place in his bed that was not drenched in crimson. The mere sight of all the blood made Hades wonder how his skeletal body could have held so much.

“Keep still, Hades,” Poseidon advised him. “With your child no longer feeding from you, you should heal in little time.”

Hades could only hope that his brother was right. Still feeling more dead than alive, he could only wonder about his appearance. Would his youthful looks be restored to him now that his body was only his again? The idea of continuing his existence forever looking like something that had risen from the grave filled him with dread and trepidation. A brief glimpse of his own reflection in the chalice Zeus had brought in earlier made him groan in misery and hide his horrible face in his hands.

Poseidon noticed his brother’s sudden anxiety and held him close, wondering about the cause of it. The cries he gave now spoke of a spiritual pain rather than a physical one, and he was not sure if he could do anything to alleviate it. Perhaps offering a shoulder to cry on was not enough.

Both Olympians looked up when Zeus entered the chamber, carrying the creature at arm’s length by the scruff of its neck. Hades’ child did not like the treatment whatsoever and wriggled and screeched in protest, making futile attempts to bite the hand which held it.

Zeus’ irritated expression turned into one of surprise when he laid eyes on his brothers and saw that the vessel was indeed still amongst the living.

“Hades lives?” he asked, not caring to hide his bemusement.

No thanks to you, Poseidon thought, but he held back the remark. He had already nearly infuriated his young brother to the point of violence, and Hades did not need to hear how little his own life had been valued compared to that of his child.

“And he shall recover,” he finally replied. “Our family is still whole, and its weapon lives.”

The three goddesses entered the room as well, soaking wet from trying to retrieve the beast which now squirmed in Zeus’ grasp. At least they seemed happy to see that their brother had not perished.

“Our weapon is already proving to be quite the handful,” Zeus remarked.

Poseidon stepped aside to allow his weakened brother a view of the creature he had birthed.
Slick flesh writhed against crustacean limbs and winding tentacles as the newborn squalled and complained, its horrible mouth lined with rows upon rows of teeth. Hades knew that when this creature grew, it would become a magnificent and formidable opponent.

“Can I… can I touch him?” he asked, feebly reaching out a hand toward his offspring.

Zeus critically considered the request. “I’m not sure it’s wise at this point, brother,” he replied. “The creature is hardly docile, and you are very weak.”

“I want to feel him,” Hades persisted, trying in vain to make his voice sound stronger than his current exhaustion allowed. “I gave birth to him. He will recognize me.”

“Hades, right now you should rest--” Poseidon began but interrupted himself when Zeus actually approached them with the creature still in his hand. In order to steady it, be placed his other hand under its bottom and held it visible to Hades, only inches from his face.

As much as his child struggled and screeched, Hades was brave enough to lift a shaking arm and touch the creature. As if under a spell, the beast became still, a pleasant surprise to the Olympians around him. It calmed under contact with the being which gave birth to it, and even became completely quiet.

Once Hades no longer had the strength to keep up his arm, Zeus brought the creature away, and this was when chaos happened. No longer in contact with Hades, the newborn shrieked and thrashed about in Zeus’ grip until its tentacles, grabbing at the air a random, caught hold of its captor’s forearm. Before the young god could respond, the little beast wrapped its limbs around his arm and bit him. It bit him hard.

Yelling out his pain, Zeus let go of the creature, and his sisters expected they would be jumping back into the pool to grab the damnable thing. However, the skittering creature came to a stop at a puddle of blood, still wet from the birth minutes before. Sniffing the puddle, the beast leant forward and began to lap the blood up, drinking from it.

A shocked gasp sounded from one of the goddesses, and a disgusted moan from another. Even Zeus himself, cradling his bleeding arm to his chest, could only stare in utter amazement. The critter was actually feeding on the blood of the god who minutes earlier had birthed it into this world.

Hades, now sitting up with the support of his brother, watched in thoughtful silence. Of course the creature would crave sustenance even now in order to grow big and strong, and it was already clear that it preferred a carnivorous diet.

“Zeus, please, make it stop. I cannot bear to watch anymore,” Hera pleaded, her face turned away from the spectacle.

“We must have something else to feed it with,” Hestia agreed. “Something more… suitable.”

Zeus had to agree with his sister. If the creature developed an appetite for meat in general and blood in particular, they would encounter a problem in sating this need. Even more terrifying was the possibility that it might turn on any of them unless they had something to offer it. Zeus glanced at the bite mark on his arm, already healing, but still visible. The creature now was only a little over a foot long, and already it had the power to inflict such damage.

“Find some fruits or vegetables for it,” he ordered. “It sustained itself when Hades ate such, so it must learn to make do until we may use it as a weapon.”

Poseidon continued to observe as the creature fed. “I am surprised it did not communicate such a need for blood when still inside Hades.”

“Imagine how it might have grown should I have obeyed such a need,” Hades remarked, finding the thought rather unpleasant.

Work still had to be done after the creature’s birth. While it occupied its time in Hades’ bathing pool, the gods had to make sure it would not return to drinking blood. Hera prepared fruits for its feeding, hopefully a suitable substitute for the little beast. Demeter scrubbed the blood from the floors while Hestia removed the similarly stained sheets from their brother’s bed so that they may be washed. Even the bed itself had to be cleaned, the blood ran so deep.

Until his bedchambers were fit for residence again, Hades had to be moved to another of his siblings’ quarters. Poseidon of course volunteered his own, and this was where the eldest god was moved so that he could rest and heal.

After his nether regions had been cleaned of the congealed blood and gore still present from the excruciating birth, Hades was placed in his brother’s roomy bed by Poseidon himself, who promised to stay by his side at all times while he slept, should he need something. Hades would have liked to point out that he did not need to be mothered by the other, but still too weak to tend to himself, he accepted and was even grateful for the attention.

Of course Hades himself was not aware of how close he had been to death, and Poseidon, who was well-aware, had still not gotten over almost losing his brother. He knew that he owed Zeus an apology for the things he had said in his panicked state, but he too still held anger for his brother for being so indifferent about Hades dying.

//I will not easily forget this, Zeus// Poseidon thought. //I begged you to save our brother’s life, and you refused…//

Watching Hades curl up and fall into a deep slumber as soon as his head hit the pillow made the younger Olympian realize how weary he was himself, and after some internal debating, he chose to disrobe and join his brother in the bed easily big enough for them both.


TBC